Asthma in the United States affects approximately ten million individuals, with children, blacks and the poor being the greatest at-risk populations. In the past decade, the prevalence, morbidity, and mortality from asthma began to increase throughout the world, with children appearing to be particularly affected. Further, asthmatic exacerbations in infants and young children are an increasing cause of hospitalizations, which contribute overall to higher costs of medical care in this country. Poverty seems to be an inherent risk factor (poor environments, lack of family support systems, poor compliance, lack of access to medical care, inability to pay for medications, and lack of patient and family education) which contributes substantially to the morbidity and mortality from asthma. In the United States, the Northeast and North Central census regions have been identified as having a higher mortality rate than the South and West, with the areas of New York City and Cook County (Chicago) appearing to be driving the overall U.S. trends. Madison, Wisconsin, the major metropolitan city located within Dane County and site of the University of Wisconsin, has noted an increase in the number of African- Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans living in the city, and is truly a community undergoing rapid ethnic transition. of special note is the fact that between 39-46% of newly emigrated families are from the Cook County area in Chicago. Due to the influx of this high risk population, and its resultant creation of a rapid transition period within the city of Madison, epidemiologic variables are being introduced within the community that need to be more precisely defined. These variables include an accurate assessment of the prevalence of asthmatic and allergic patients in these minority populations, their relative knowledge of asthma pathophysiology (symptoms, triggering factors, importance of environment, etc.) and treatment, and their relative access to health care delivery systems. Using a well defined preschool population of minority children who are enrolled in the Project Head Start Program of Dane County, high risk children will be identified, and structured asthma educational interventions for the child, the family, and school personnel will be instituted. The efficacy of these interventions will be assessed by the evaluation of various outcome parameters (hospitalizations, ER visits, school days missed, etc.), comparing the Dane County children with minority children enrolled in Head Start Programs in two neighboring counties who will not receive any of these educational strategies. The overall goal of this demonstration project is to define the magnitude and characteristics of this high risk asthmatic population in Madison, and to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and control of asthma for these children.